Chicken Fingers, Dinosaurs & a Glass of Good Wine
by nevertoomuch
Summary: Just a bit of Alexis/Beckett/Castle fluffiness.


Just some Alexis/Beckett/Castle fluff for good measure ;)

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><p>"Beckett."<p>

Kate grabbed her phone automatically answering without looking to see who the caller was. She had just changed into leggings and a loose T-shirt and as much as she wanted some good news on their latest case, she also wanted to simply lie down in her bed.

"Hi Detective, it's Alexis."

"Oh Alexis , hi." She was surprised by the girl's voice on the other end, and more then slightly confused, "What's up?"

She heard a deep exhale on the other end of the line, " I really…I really didn't want to call you, I feel so bad but I can't and my project is due tomorrow, and he just won't, I can't… I could use your help."

"Ok, take a breath." She was partly amused and partly worried by the teenager's rant, "I'm happy to help, but what exactly is going on here?"

She could Alexis shift the phone against her ear, "I'm babysitting for a family friend, their two year old Jacob, and Gram and Dad are out, and I can't reach either of them. I can't get him to do anything. It's ten o'clock and he still hasn't eaten dinner, brushed his teeth, and he definitely is not sleeping. And the cherry on top is that I have a huge project due tomorrow I still have to work on."

Kate looked at her bed, she had already turned down the sheets and taken out the new manuscript Castle had given her earlier that day. She weighed it against the panic in Alexis' voice and came to a simple decision, "I can't promise I'll be much of a help, but I can be over in a few if you need me."

"Yes! Yes, that would be wonderful, thank you so much Beckett!"

"Ok see you soon. Anything you need me to pick up on the way?"

"Oh no, just you. I'm so sorry I had to ask you this it's just…"

"Really, it's fine Alexis." She said reassuringly, "I'm just gonna grab my keys and I'll be right over."

Beckett knocked on the door hesitantly, not quite knowing exactly what to expect when she got inside.

She heard Alexis yell something from the other side of the door, and in a few moments the redhead opened the door with a furrowed brow. Beckett had to with hold a laugh when looking at Alexis, who seemed to be completely and utterly frazzled. Her shirt was completely askew and her hair was haphazardly thrown up in a bun. She also noted there was some kind of sticky looking substance splattered on her outfit. Alexis swung the door open all the way and as Beckett stepped across the threshold into the Castles' apartment she was immediately was assaulted with a pillow.

Alexis hadn't even had time to give Beckett a proper greeting before she had to scold the two year old, "Jacob, no! That is not how we treat guests!" But he was off again and already out of sight," I'm sorry. I cannot thank you enough for coming though. I seriously think I'm minutes away from mental breakdown."

Kate looked around at the apartment. It was quite literally in shambles. She bent down to pick up a copy of Heat Wave that Jacob apparently thought would look better with illustrations. The black and white pages were now vibrant a la Crayola, "I think your Dad would actually appreciate this. I always imagined him as more of a picture book kinda guy anyways."

The joke was completely lost on Alexis however which Kate quickly noticed, "Go clean yourself up and take a breather. I'll try and get him settled ok? You just need to worry about showering and your project right now."

Alexis nodded hesitantly, "Ok, I'll go get ready but I'm not starting my work till he's to settled. After all, he's my responsibility not yours."

As Alexis made her way up the steps Kate ventured into the other room, "Jacob, where are you buddy?"

She heard a giggle from underneath the coffee table, "Oh, I guess he's not here. I guess I'll just have to give his surprise to someone else."

"Noooooo!" He scrambled out from underneath the table.

"Hi Jacob, My name is…" how did one introduce themselves to a two year old?, "…Beckett. I'm Alexis'… friend."

The young boy beamed up at her, "Surprise?"

"Well, you have to do something for me first, ok?"

"Like what."

She motioned to the kitchen and the plate sitting untouched on the counter, "How about we go in there and you eat your chicken fingers?"

"No." His smiled faded to a pout.

"Why not?"

"I _do not like _chicken fingers."

Beckett looked around the kitchen. She had guessed the answer would be something like that but she still didn't know how to respond, "Umm well, how about you pretend you like them?" She mentally smacked herself in the head. That was the best she could come up with?

Jacob violently shook his head no, sending his curly blond mop back and forth. Kate looked him up and down. Her eyes stopped on his shirt which had a cartoon on a T-Rex on it.

"Do you like dinosaurs?" Jacob's face lit up instantly, "You know how Dinosaurs get so strong? They eat their chicken fingers."

"Really?"

"Really."

He looked about to give in to her persuasion, sitting down in front of the plate but suddenly he pursed his lips and looked back in Beckett's direction, "Chickens weren't around back then I didn't think."

"Oh yeah, they defiantly were. They were just uh, different colors you know? You might not have recognized them."

"Okay. But after do I get my surprise ?"

"Yes. So eat up."

She pulled up a chair next to him and in between bites he offered up a question, "What's your favorite dino?"

After compelling conversations about what dinosaur was the best, and five chicken fingers later, dinner was done.

Alexis came down the stairs just as dinner was being cleaned up.

"I forgot!" Kate looked over at Jacob in mock horror, "Only kids with clean teeth can get surprises. I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you!

"What?" he was shocked, "I'll go brush my teef den."

Kate couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm and lack of pronunciation of the 'th' sound.

As Jacob scampered to the bathroom Alexis came up behind Kate, "Wow. You have to be magic or something. How did you get him to do all that?"

"It was nothing. Plus I work with your dad all day so it's pretty good training for child care." That earned a giggle from Alexis, who now seemed a bit mellower, "I do however still have to think of some kind of surprise, and soon."

"Hmmm." Alexis put her books and laptop down on the table in the living room, " Actually, I have a great idea." They got set up quickly, and luckily Jacob was pretty slow with the bedtime routine especially in a house that wasn't his, so they had time to finish before he got out. When he came running back in, his jaw dropped in amazement. Up on the huge sheet screen in the middle of the room, 'The Land Before Time' was just beginning.

"My FAVORITE movie!" Jacob squealed and hopped up on to the couch.

Alexis sat at one end of the couch typing away dutifully, reminding Kate of the older Castle and giving her the new task of trying to suppress thoughts of how nice this would be if Rick was there. But if course, if he was there her reason for being at the Castles' loft would be null and void. Kate flipped the lights off and sat down on the couch to watch the cartoon dinosaurs, even though part of her mind was clearly somewhere else.

About half an hour into the movie she heard Alexis flip her laptop shut and relax into the sofa with a sigh of relief. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes after that she felt the tiny warm body that that been keeping her feet heated craw closer and curl closer towards her. But by then she was at best half awake and shifted around a bit to get comfortable.

When Castle got home from his annual 'night out' with his poker buddies he decided to quietly open the door and tip toe in as Alexis and the toddler were probably long gone into dreamland. He made his way through the loft surveying the utter chaos that the child had caused and when pausing for a moment, felt a pang of sadness that Alexis had grown so fast. Approaching the couch he could see Alexis' slouched head over the top and a movie still playing in the background. He looked at his watch. 12:00. He remembered Jacob's parents saying they would pick him up between 12:30 and figured he could send Alexis up to bed and keep half an eye on the (presumably) sleeping boy till his parents came. So he walked around the couch ready to give her a gentle tap on the shoulder to move up to her room when he realized there was another person lying on his couch.

It was Beckett.

Katherine Beckett was sleeping on his couch, and he was caught completely off guard. She was on her back, stretched out the full length of the couch, causing her calves to fall over Alexis' lap. Lying on top of her was Jacob, head cuddled against her shoulder, in deep sleep as well.

He had to resist the urge to take out his phone and snap a picture of the moment.

He muted the movie then turned back around to look at the sleeping trio. And as he picked up all the nuances of the situation ; the way Alexis had let her arms fall over Kate's legs, the hand Kate had placed protectively on Jacobs back, and the sleepy smiles that rested on all three faces, he made a decision.

"Castle?"

"Hey."

"I can explain…"

"No need." He smiled picking Jacob gently off of Kate to let her stand up , this causing his had to brush ever so lightly across her stomach. It didn't go unnoticed by either of them.

"Thanks." Kate stood up and Castle put the boy back down on the couch grabbing a throw from the other couch ad covering him up with it.

"I'm just going to wake Alexis up. Meet me in the kitchen?"

She nodded sleepily and headed over. Castle, true to his word showed up a few minutes later.

"Thank you. Alexis gave me a quick summary on her way upstairs. Sounds like you were quite the hero tonight." He walked over and opened a cabinet, "Wine?"

"Yes, and no…Or no and yes?" she replied scrunching her nose confusion before clearing it up, " Yes, I would like wine. No I was not a hero."

"Alexis begs to differ." He handed her a glass of wine, "And I know you don't have tons of free time. It was really nice of you to come here and help her out."

She merely smiled in reply, taking a sip of her wine, but it was a genuine smile and it reached her eyes.

"Go on a date with me." He didn't give her a chance to respond before he continued," Seeing you there just then, I don't want to wait and see how things pan out, and I don't want to waste anymore time. I want you. And I think it's time we'd had a proper date."

Kate swirled the wine in her glass, "Tomorrow at nine?"

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><p>So, did ya like?<p>

This is just a one shot but I am thinking of doing a serious type multi-chapter piece I have a fun idea for if I can get it together. I would want to finish the majority of it before putting it out there however just to make sure i'd finish it. Anyways, thanks for reading!


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